


A Cherry-Filled Afternoon

by Rose_Lattes



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, an attempt at fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:00:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Lattes/pseuds/Rose_Lattes
Summary: Prompt fill for the Widojest Hiatus Prompt: In the kitchen.Caleb is a taste-tester for Jester's newest pastry creation.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 10
Kudos: 84





	A Cherry-Filled Afternoon

"Try it," Jester said as she shoved a confection in front of Caleb's face. It was a golden brown pastry pie with a dark red filling spilling from its edges. She had doused the top of it with white-crystalized sugar.

  
Caleb carefully took it from her, wary of making a mess. "What is it?"

  
"A cherry handheld pie!" she said with a smile. "Caduceus picked the cherries with me."

  
Caleb leaned back against the kitchen counter. He examined the desert with intrigue. "It looks professionally made," he mused.

  
Jester straightened with an infectious smile. She ran her hand down her flour-stained apron. "Why, thank you, Caleb." She said it almost bashfully, and Caleb simply stared at her for a moment before she waved her hands around. "Don't just look at it; try it."

  
Caleb needed no other instruction. He sunk his teeth into the pastry, its crisped skin folded beneath the pressure, and he was overcome with the taste of butter and cherries. He was silent for a moment. And Jester mistook his quiet for discomfort. "Oh, you don't like it, do you? Is it the cherries? Are they too tart? Caduceus warned me that this species was tarter than usual. Maybe I should add more sugar or ma—"

  
"Jester, it's delicious," Caleb said softly. He had never seen her so self-conscious. Normally her confidence was stifling, but here in the kitchen, with just the two of them, it was nonexistent. He took another bite, made a showing of savoring the taste.

  
"You aren't just saying that?" Jester asked as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

  
"Here, try it for yourself," he lifted the pastry to Jester. The tiefling didn't take it from him. She simply leaned forward and took a bite herself. Pastry flakes flittered between them as she pulled away. He watched as she chewed, deep in thought.

Suddenly, she lit up. "It is good. It needs something, though. Cinnamon!" She jolted toward the jar next to the flour. Popping the pot open, she returned to him.

"Cinnamon?" Caleb echoed.

  
"Trust me," she said as she sprinkled a dash of spice over the sugar. "Try it now."

  
He thought it tasted fine before, but didn't feel like opposing her, so he took another bite, and found the additional flavor took the pastry to a whole new level. "That's incredible," he said after he was done chewing. "How did you think of that?"

  
Jester lifted her chin with a smirk. "My tongue is so powerful. I can tell what taste is missing, like so easily." She sounded incredibly smug, and it was such a bizarre thing to say, Caleb couldn't help but smile.

  
"Is that so?"

  
She leaned forward and took another bite. There was little of it left, and her teeth grazed Caleb's finger.

  
"Mmhm," Jester mumbled with a nod.

  
Caleb quickly popped the rest of the pastry into his mouth and looked away from her. He hoped she wouldn't comment on the blush dusting his cheeks. Worse, she leaned closer and wiped the corner of his mouth with a warm finger. He flinched, and she was gone. She showed him her finger. It was covered in cooked cherry. "You're a messy eater, Caleb," she said. She put her finger in her mouth, and Caleb watched as she sucked the red from her digit.

  
"What if I was saving that for later?" Caleb asked.

  
Jester grinned. "I'm going to make more," she said.

  
Caleb examined the kitchen. "Did you not make more than one?" he asked, surprised by the woman's self-control.

  
"Nope," Jester said. She turned and sat on the counter space next to him. "I needed to make sure my recipe worked."

  
"And you wanted me to taste it? Why not Caduceus? He surely has more experience in the kitchen then I do."

  
Jester shrugged as if she didn't know the answer either. "You're the only one that would tell me the truth," she said softly, her mask of confidence fell again.

  
Caleb hummed in response. As much as he wished to disagree, he couldn't. He knew the others liked to tip-toe around Jester, and as much as he always wanted to please her, he couldn't in good faith treat her like she was glass.

  
"And besides," Jester said, trying to piece her mask back together, "wouldn't it be cool if we surprised everyone with a feast of pastries, like a mountain of sweets?"

  
Caleb's brows wavered. "We?"

  
Beside him, Jester nodded. "See, when I made this one, I didn't write down any measurements. You can help me keep track of them. And this one took me so long to make, I can't imagine how long it would take me to make more than that, but with your help, we can create like a hundred more. That is if you weren't planning on doing anything else today?"

  
He was planning on returning to his books after Jester's interruption, but something about returning to his studies when she wanted to bake a mountain of sweets here in the kitchen left a bad taste in his mouth. "No. I would like to help," he said.

  
Jester suddenly lept from the counter and raced to the door. She grabbed an apron hanging from a nail on the wall. She handed it to Caleb.

  
Caleb examined the scratchy cotton and then looked back to Jester's beautifully embroidered apron. "Mine is so plain compared to yours," he commented.

  
"It's not plain, it's just blank. I can help you decorate it if you'd like. Yasha got me some new thread. I think I have a few shades of orange if you want some cool fire up along the sides. Ooo! And maybe a little bitty Frumpkin on the pocket."

  
"Could you make him coming out of the pocket?"

  
Jester gasped. "That's a great idea."

  
Caleb put the apron on and tied his hair up away from his face. "Make sure to add a little bitty Jester somewhere as a signature."

  
"I'll put her right over the heart," Jester said with a smile that made Caleb burn a deep red.

  
He turned to the counter covered in flour, clapped his hands and willed his heart to slow, "Alright. What is first?"


End file.
